Will low oil prices wreck the renewables industry?

January 12, 2015 | By Doug Peeples

The drastic drop in the price of crude has left its mark on the oil and gas industry in several ways, including project curtailment, layoffs in the industry and their suppliers, and more. Some industry observers are predicting that will mean a rush on cheap oil at the expense of clean energy.

But the longer low oil prices continue, that is not a likely outcome, many analysts are saying. Those observers who see a hit to the renewable energy industry may have missed a few things. Funding for solar grew in 2014. And, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar photovoltaic grew more than 400 percent between 2010 and last year.

Michael Liebreich, an analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance was quoted as saying on edie.net, "The story should not be how falling oil prices impact the shift to clean energy, it should be how the shift to clean energy is impacting the oil price."

Renewable energy may not have done it alone, but combined with shale gas and energy-efficiency measures they have been chipping away at oil demand for about the last nine years.

Also, some wind and solar power are already cheaper than oil in some areas, and other clean energy technologies are expected to become cheaper as well -- just as wind and solar did as those markets began to attract investment and grow.

And, to varying degrees, the big power markets in the world like the U.S., China and EU countries have strong markets and/or policies that are pushing clean energy.

There are some areas generally included under the clean energy umbrella that may take a hit from low oil prices, though, like biofuels, as well as electric vehicles and others powered by alternate fuels.

For more:
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http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/no-low-oil-prices-wont-wreck-renewables-industry/2015-01-12